The journey continues

Work continued on the pen this week to make it more secure. My son had to replace few feet of fencing then viola it is ready for habitation!! Actually as it turned out, he used about 80 feet of fencing. But it is all good and the pacs have a safe and secure home.

I prepared my fiber for the wild side of my Golden Fleece module 7 yarn, my responsible single already spun and waiting.

I think my blending board is my most used tool. I love to paint with fiber!

I started with combed top, then added schlubs of SoftSilk and some dyed locks then some more combed  top.. 

Arty Rolags 

Spun into my "wild" single with some wild feathers spun into it.

Then plied with my "responsible" single.

And it turned out practically perfectly balanced., like Mary Poppins

I am quite please at how this one turned out. 

I am almost sorry to see the end of this particular journey. Only one more module left to do.

And of course I managed to squeak in another hat, this one for Jesse in Maryland. Every time I post one, I get another request.

Fibering on...
xoxo

marching on

Time marches on. I find that when a person takes an extended leave of absence from work, one is left without a sense of urgency to preform a task.

Apparently I need to have the pressure of limited time off to motivate myself to get things done.

 Time tends to pass in a blur and before you know it, the week is over and you haven't accomplished squat!

OK I haven't exactly been idle but I haven't been getting my yarn stock produced like I should either.  or those niddy noddys. And some days I just plain don't do diddle. Of course now that work is looming over me I am panicked about my mental to do list.

I feel a bit like I am cramming for finals. Tuesday I went to the clerks office and got my local business license for RaineyDay Fibers, Friday I took care of the state paperwork so now I am all legal like in the state of Tennessee. Of course so far not a sale in this state.

I did also get the poncho off in the mail ( they don't seem to have an 24 hour Post Offices here, just sayin')  and Nikki's Rikki Hat also off in the mail to Chicago Burbs.

Ever since I posted all the Christmas hats I have been hat bound (orders). So here is the one for Jesse (who is in Maryland) in progress. and I should get this one done this week end. With one more hat order after that to do...this next one for Nadine in Arizona. She wants some of my hand spun done up.

I'm not complaining but I am getting tired of the hat scene.

 Lots other happening since last Sunday...did I mention I got some new furkids? No??? Well that is what my other project is. Getting the over grown pen ready at my cousin/brothers place for the new residents.


I planned on starting out early but then it snowed first thing. And my son vetoed that for today.

 

Late in the afternoon I was feeling a bit panicked again so I went over to my cousins and started work myself.

No one has lived in it for some time and it took me a good 15 minutes to hack my way through those creepy "I'm taking over the world" kind of vines.

Then I hacked my way through some um, pig weed, milk weed or what ever  kind of weed thing my cousin called it.

 

I got a goodly bit finished before I was too pooped to go on. And I discovered a ginormous old satellite dish in the pen. I reckon the previous occupants  (goats) were good with it being there but I said it needs to go. Can you recycle those I wonder?

Now I won't post pictures yet of my new residents, but if you stop by my Facebook Page RaineyDay Fibers  ( that I very recently worked so hard to set up, and yes this is a blatant bid for page likes) you will get the sneak preveiw.

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I even managed to get my first single for my Golden Fleece Module 7 spun and my rolags made today for the wild side of 7.

 

Did I say I hadn't done diddly? I must have been mistaken because I am even more tired after reading this entry!


This girl is ready to crash so happy fiber-ing

xoxo

on the journeys trek

Catching up on my Golden Fleece Course. These are my Module 6 yarns.  A re-visit of my Module 1 yarn which represented breaking free. I started off making my rolags on the blending board then core spinning over some ugly commercial dk yarn I had laying around.

One small skein is core spun as a single.

The rest of the rolags I decided need a little bit more ummm...texture. And lo and behold, I happened to have some colorful buttons sitting around just waiting to be used.

 They cried out to be used in this yarn. Plied with thread and added the buttons. 

And Module 6 is complete and submitted!

Fiber on xoxo

poncho-licious

It has been a while but I finally got on the stick and worked on that woven commission piece!


I had been weaving on it from time to time but not steady.  I had some difficulty with it because it was wool yarn on wool warp. Lesson learned, I did not enjoy the making of it. I discovered the wool yarn grabs too much on the wool warp to make smooth motions.

I had actually made three pieces of fabric. The first one was too short (faulty guesstimating), so that one I consider my practice piece. Maybe I will play around with it and some pins and see what it wants to be.

It has been a long time since I sewed a poncho (or anything for that matter), and I was feeling a little rusty and nervous. I think it had to do with it being commissioned. Pressure and all that. I had to hang it on the mannequin for a few days pinned together. 

Then I switched the fabric around and pinned it again and then mulled it over some more. I wasn't liking the stiffness but I was sure it would soften up. Just being my usual pickiness. Yep, yep I think I like it.

 Today I told my son (and myself) I am getting that poncho done dammit!!

I trimmed, pinned and sewed and then I tried it on. Perfect!  Presently it is hanging out on the porch drying after the last nice warm bath. Oh an it is not stiff at all!

I do love how it turned out! I wouldn't mind keeping it myself if she doesn't like it. I kind of have a hard time letting go of my creations some times.

Next project...duh  another Rikke hat! This one was a request. 

Now I must must must get back to my Journey to the Golden Fleece module 6!
 Fibering on Loveies!
xxoo

to dye for

I've been in a little bit of a slow down after this past week. Since having posted those two Rikke hats, I now have two more requests for them, because I wasn't hat-bound enough. I do get a little bit of a break because I had to order the yarn for them.

A Saturday Sit n Knit at the library calls for something quick and easy. I grabbed up my latest thing on the needles which happened to be a pair of gauntlets I was making for myself from some art yarn I had spun nearly a year ago...seems funny saying that because I have only been on this journey for a little over a year.

I needed something brainless and pattern-less to work on since there is mostly chatting that goes on.

I couldn't take my other project because it is the Stephen West and I need concentration for that one.

And of course having bragged how I "got that" brioche stitch, I promptly went home and had to rip it out again! Do Not...I repeat Do Not try to watch Stepbrothers while working on brioche. That was just plain foolish on my part! I now realize I need like 20 straight uninterrupted hours to get that whole section done.

Since moving I haven't gotten the fiber piles organized yet, if they ever were. Most of it is in the work shed in the garage. The last couple of days have been fairly warm so I have been playing with fiber out there, a little bit. Today I decided to experiment with dyes.

Usually I do things in the hap-hazard color splash, I call it artistic way, but my son calls it my mad scientist mode.  I guess I could see that from his point of view.

The directions I got with my dyes were some what lacking so I improvise, so what. I have learned since I did the last dye experiment that I needed more mordant to make the yarn color fast. I had green hands for days after plying this.

This time I made up some dye mix, plenty of vinegar.  I have some natural yarn that I have been saving for a dye day. Don don don!

After I laid the yarn out on plastic wrap, and squirted my dye on it, I realized two things right away. One... the dye mix was too light and pastel-ly looking. Two...I don't have a microwave!!! Crap!! 

Then I look over and realize - THREE ...I already had this cooking in the crock pot! Crap again!

Oh Well! Wrap it up and hope for the best!

 

And actually, it didn't come out looking too bad.

And when this dries ( I think this is coopworth) I think I will comb it, and attempt to diz it. Maybe add a little sparkle to it. We'll see.

 

happy fiber-ing :) xoxo